


Among Pigeons

by Ceares



Series: Three On A Couch [3]
Category: Leverage
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-31
Updated: 2012-12-31
Packaged: 2017-11-23 03:00:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/617346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceares/pseuds/Ceares
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>'Jonesy' Is based on an actual cat. The name has been changed to protect the guilty.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Among Pigeons

**Author's Note:**

> 'Jonesy' Is based on an actual cat. The name has been changed to protect the guilty.

Things start to go missing from Leverage headquarters. Regular people might not think anything of it, might blame absent-mindedness, but they’re not regular people--they’re thieves and they know where every single thing they own is at all times. So when things start to disappear, they do exactly what you’d suspect a bunch of criminals(slightly reformed) to do. They blame each other.

 

Parker:

It’s only natural that Parker gets the first hit. The girl’s got sticky fingers just for fun, but she’s also proud of her pulls and when she swears it’s not her, they all believe her. Besides, she’s missing a roll of quarters(and yes, she keeps coins too, just not as many as she’d like because they’re so heavy. Her secret dream is to roll around in them like Scrooge McDuck but she’s learned not to mention that out loud--anymore.)

Hardison:

He’s the worst of them all when it comes to stealing (other than certain sandwiches) he’s just not all that interested in other people’s crap when he’s got so many pretty toys of his own to play with. He’s missing a couple of flash drives. Since he backs up obsessively it’s no big thing but it’s the principle. Teammates shouldn’t steal from each other -- okay look, it was a damn good sandwich okay and it sitting there, was begging him to take it.

Eliot:

Eliot retrieves stuff, he doesn’t just steal it(unless there’s a shit-load of money involved)besides, he’s got them trained. A few glares and a threat to _not_ make his tiramisu and he can pretty much get anything he wants from his crew. Hell, Sophie even coughed up the location of the Stanley Cup when he saved her second helping from Hardison(the boy eats like he’s feeding a litter of tape-worms.) He doesn’t use his hair ties anymore since the cut but he still notices when they start to disappear.

Nate:

Nate’s not big on things, not any more, but he still has a few items he clings too. Such as the cuff links that were an anniversary present from Maggie. He doesn’t accuse anybody else after Parker but he watches them all with narrowed eyes. The lifts are more like kleptomania than any sort of planned thievery. He’d know if any of his crew had a problem. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was some sort of game though. He’ll figure it out.

Sophie:

No! Absolutely not! Unacceptable! It was a five thousand dollar bracelet and she doesn’t care how innocent they all look, she’s locking them in and she’s perfectly willing to keep them there indefinitely until her jewelry is returned.

 

Hardison, Eliot and Parker are sprawled on the couch together, limbs tangled and overlapping. Sophie is seated in the chair, feet curled up under her. They’re all watching Nate wander the room, eyes going everywhere as he thinks.

“Okay, so we have a problem. If none of us are doing this, then that means that someone is getting in here.”

“Impossible!” Hardison folds his arms and shakes his head. “Do you know the kind of genius it would take to crack my security system, repeatedly and leave no trace? You don’t know, because they don’t exist.”

Nate nods. “Okay, so, it’s someone already in here then.”

“Somebody already in here that’s not us? What like the Borrowers?”

Eliot rolls his eyes. “No, Parker, not like the Borrowers! What do you know about them anyway?”

Parker shrugs. “They were good thieves, okay.”

 

A day later, they’re in the makeshift headquarters Hardison has set up in the pub. “Okay so infrared security cameras, and motion sensors in place. Anything that happens in there, we’re going to see it.”

“Ooh, if they’re actually this good, maybe they can audition for the team.”

“We’re not recruiting, babe.”

“We should be. After, you know,” she gestures to her stomach “we’re going to need a good thief.”

The sensors go off and they all watch avidly as nothing happens.

“What the hell?”

“Maybe your equipment is faulty.”

Eliot grins when Hardison punches him in the shoulder. “Blasphemy!”

“Ooh! Maybe it’s a poltergeist.”

 

Sophie sighs. “There’s nothing there! I’m going to go take a nice, long bath.” She looks over her shoulder and smiles. “Nate?”

Nate stands up, slapping Hardison on the shoulder. “Okay guys, we’re leaving you to it. Try not to destroy the pub.”

The sensor goes off again and this time there’s a shadow, movement, a figure darts onto the counter and grabs the watch they’d left out for bait. Nate had only sighed with resignation when he realized it was the one he’d just bought, to replace the one that had ‘mysteriously’ broken during the job with hockey player.

“Is that?”

“Oh hell no!”

Parker snort laughs. “It’s a cat burglar!”

Hardison giggles along with her and Eliot rolls his eyes. They watch as the cat grabs the watch in it’s mouth and runs off back into the shadows. 

They‘re all silent for a moment, then Parker raises her hand. “Oh! Can we keep it?”

Eliot shakes his head. “Absolutely not! Cats are...”

“Smart.”

“All fuzzy and cuddly, like Bunny.”

“Evil.”

“So perfect for the Leverage team.”

Eliot folds his arms and shakes his head, thinking of claw marks, the hair, the litter box.

“I never had a pet.”

Parker makes a frowny face that’s actually more scary than sad. “Me either.”

“Really? You’re pulling the orphan ticket on me? “

Hardison shrugs, draping an arm across Parker’s shoulder while they both endeavor to look as pathetic as possible.

“Ah hell. Okay, fine.”

Parker bounces up and down, grinning brightly. “Yay!”

“Yeah. But who’s going to catch it?”

 

Epilogue.

 

Jonesy turns out to be all those things. Smart, cuddly and evil. It takes three months before they manage to find her stash. By that time she’s a full fledged member of the team. She has her own spot in Lucille and perches in the rafters with Parker, both of them asleep. She even grifts with Sophie and Nate -- Nate in particular loves to do a Blofeld, and she loves the diamond collar. Eliot takes longest to warm up to her, mostly because she steals his freshly chopped olives, but when a couple of idiots take exception to being asked to leave the brew-pub and decide it’s a good idea to jump Hardison in the alley, Jonesy comes out of nowhere and leaves one of them a screaming, bloody mess before Eliot can even get into it. After that, she gets her own plate of olives and Eliot’s working on a recipe for cat food. Stuff still goes missing all the time, but now, they know where to look.


End file.
